Saturday, October 27, 2007

Cheese Can Save the Planet

Or, perhaps, you're a bit more obsessed by the stuff, planning entire meals around the cheese course.

But did you know that besides being such a tasty nibble, cheese holds the potential to solve many of the planet's biggest problems? That's right: cheese can save the world.

So it seems, anyway. Every day or so, there comes another story about this or that scientist-entrepreneur trying to use cheese byproducts in an earthy-crunchy way.

A few weeks back, I noted the experiments in New York state to turn whey into fuel. Now, here's a piece in a European trade journal about a cheese plant in Pennsylvania that wants to be self-sustaining, energy-wise. Here's an excerpt:The Fairview Swiss cheese plant in Pennsylvania, owned by John Koller & Son, will soon be powered partially from biogas made from food waste like whey, according to Pennsylvania's agriculture departmant.